The parking situation during drop off for Chloe’s first few days of preschool was crazy and chaotic. I’ve been told people get the hang of it after a while and it gets a lot easier, but I wanted an alternative to the chaos until it’s figured out. So last week I decided I could take the kids with the bike trailer. Chloe’s preschool is 1.4 miles from our house, according to Google Maps. It takes about 30 minutes, round-trip, including loading/unloading several times and walking Chloe to her teacher. Since I have the time, it’s been a nice option for us.

Here’s what I learned while biking her to school:

I’m out of shape.

Most of the 1.4 miles between our house and the school is uphill, I swear.

The ride home, which conversely is mostly downhill, is a lot easier since we’ve left 40 pounds at the school.

I don’t get “helmet hair” as badly as I thought I might.

I’m seriously out of shape.

If you accidentally pinch Devon’s chin skin in the strap of his (pink) helmet, he will totally freak out and not let you anywhere near his chin again, even though the buckle is still pinching his skin and he’s in a lot of pain. Sorry buddy!

Wardrobe choice and hairstyle choice for a 4 year-old is greatly influenced by riding in a bike trailer and wearing a helmet.

Have I mentioned I’m out of shape?

My kids are too big to ride in the bike trailer together. It won’t solve many problems, because D still needs a place to ride, but I really want one of these:

I was hoping to make this a habit, at least until Iowa weather dictated otherwise. But Monday morning I woke up with a cold or allergies – either way, I was full of snot and coughing up a storm. I decided riding the bike in wasn’t a great idea, all things considered. I still thought I might get back to it later in the week, but we’ve had a couple rainy mornings and I’m still not feeling 100%, so we’ve driven and dealt with the ridiculousness that is the preschool parking lot.

The verdict is out on whether I’ll bike Chloe to school next week and beyond. I should. It might even help me get in shape 😉 However, there are a lot of mornings I’d love the extra 10 minutes before we need to leave the house. And Devon spends a lot of the ride home whining, because he’s lonely and uncomfortable after wearing his helmet for a while. And it’s hard. Because I’m out of shape.

I guess we’ll just see if I can overcome all these excuses…

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3 responses to “Our Biking Adventures”

Dear Daughter,
Do you think any of this has to do with being ever so slightly out of shape? And I have never met a young boy who enjoyed a helmet stuck on his noggin! And, now that Chloe is in pre-school perhaps maybe she has a solution.
Love,
DAD!

This makes me laugh because it is just how it would be for me, too. We have had the same situation with C and her helmet and chin. Aren’t those WeeHoos the coolest? We’re looking into getting a trail-a-bike for next summer. However, that leaves one of us at home with the baby.